Look, don’t be alarmed. The combination of the words “Sprints” and “Trickle Down” might immediately conjure some kind of bathroom-emergency situation, perhaps a memory of doing the pee-pee dance in the driver’s seat while desperately attempting to find a parking space before something goes terribly wrong. Don’t worry. That’s not what’s happening here. It’s just…
The post Sprints – “Trickle Down” appeared first on Stereogum.
Where they from?
Monroe, NJ. The World Baseball Classic starts this week. A lot of baseball purists are against it because of the injury-risk to players (Edwin Diaz tore his ACL celebrating a couple of years ago #LOLMETS) but I am fond of it because if nothing else it gives us a chance to beat Canada again, which was so exciting when it happened in the Olympics that I walked around with an erection all day.
Why the hype?
Mike Mayo is grindcore royalty. The guitarist has spent time in Waking the Cadaver, Compulsed and most notable Ground, the undisputed kings of beatdown grindcore. Well the Mayo man hath returned with a one-man project focused on PATHOLOGICAL GOREGRIND. Think early Carcass and Dead Infection paired Mayo’s penchant for intimidatingly mean guitar riffing. He even did the toilet vocals himself! Bravo!
Latest release?
Demo 2026, self-released. Cavity Injector avoids all the trappings that usually turn me off from Goregrind, mainly the overly long samples and intros. Instead we get five hard minutes of biting riffs and razor-tight computerized drums. Everything this man touches is gold, he is the King Midas of grindcore.
The post Blast Worship: Cavity Injector appeared first on Decibel Magazine.
Over the years, Columbus singer-songwriter Mark Allen Scott has expanded his solo project Villagerrr into something like a real-deal band, and they’ve recently become affiliated with one of the most reliably great record labels in indie music, Winspear. The label reissued Villagerrr’s 2024 album Tear Your Heart Out last year, and they’ll release the next…
The post Villagerrr Announce New Album <em>Carousel</em>: Hear “Locket” appeared first on Stereogum.
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
Formed back in 1986, when guitarist/ vocalist – and sole remaining member – Tommy Victor was a sound engineer at New York’s GBGBs, recruiting club doorman, Mike Kirkland to play bass, and ex-Swans drummer, Ted Parsons and issuing their Primitive Origins EP and Force Fed full-length debut before the Eighties ended.
Even back then, Prong was always at the forefront of experimentation which would later explode into ‘The Next Big Thing’. Starting as a crossover thrash outfit, before introducing groove on to their 1990 record, Beg to Differ, way before Groove Metal broke into the mainstream.
Alternative and industrial aspects had been introduced by the time the fourth record, Cleansing was released in 1994, as Prong found themselves touring with Sepultura and Pantera, two of the era’s most powerful metal acts. Reportedly eschewing the early thrash influences for this one, Tommy cites The Sisters of Mercy as being an inspiration.
The follow-up record, Rude Awakening would repeat the sound, before the band took a hiatus in 1996, with Tommy joining Glenn Danzig’s band – and later Ministry – before Prong’s return.
Albums released since the reconstitution have found Prong reconciling themselves with their trash roots and have successfully blended all influences on the likes of Carved into Stone, Ruining Lives and, most recently, 2023’s State of Emergency.
In the summer of 2025, Prong – Tommy, with bassist Christopher Dean and drummer Tyler Joseph – headed out across Europe, well-rehearsed, and with recording equipment at the ready, to celebrate thirty-one[!] years of the Cleansing album; the result is this hour-long treat, Live & Uncleansed, in which Prong can be heard at the top of their collective game, blasting through album highlights and tracks from various other parts of their history.
There’s no atmosphere-building intro here, only feedback and Tommy announcing he likes his revenge best served cold; his guitar is fat, the drums booming and the riff beguiling for the earworm that is Revenge… Best Served Cold from the Carved into Stone record. We get all manner of additional guitar accoutrements and flourishes, without once disrupting the dynamism. Found on the Airheads’ soundtrack, Inheritance is heavier and darker, showing another side to the band. The Descent is the newest and most urgent of tunes, finding Tommy putting both his vocal cords and guitar strings through their paces.
We’re three tracks in before Cleansing gets any attention. One Outnumbered opens with a soundbite stating how fractured American society has become – odd how somethings don’t change – before becoming lush and hypnotic; No Question follows and both are imbued with Nineties Alternative vibes. The same could be said of Not of this Earth and Home Rule, which each have sounds that remind me of The Smashing Pumpkins and Helmet respectively. Sublime is pure bouncing groove and, listening to these five tracks back-to-back it’s easy to forget just how progressive and forward-thinking Prong really was.
The heaviness returns with 2016 album, X: No Absolutes’ opener, Ultimate Authority, which goes a long way to capture the sheer energy of a live Prong show. Cleansing’s lead single, the anthemic Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck has a massive bass intro as Tommy invites chaos through crunching riffs. The first verse is to ease the audience in, but there’s no compassion shown as the chorus hits heavily. Considering Prong is a three-piece, the sound is immense on this one.
Still wanting more, the set ends with Zero Days’ However It May End, which harkens back to the band’s early crossover direction. Raw and pummelling, even on record, by this point it’s clear Prong have battered their crowd into submission.
But mercy is for the weak – or so I learnt from Cobra Kai – and Prong haven’t finished with their audience quite yet. The equally Helmet-like deep cut, Out of this Misery, feels as though it needs more attention; Broken Peace B-side, Corpus Delecti lets us know we’ve missed out on a gem of a tune; and no Prong show is complete without Whose Fist Is This Anyway? Imagine Sabbath not doing Paranoid – I know, unthinkable!
Recorded across a hectic week last summer, at venues and festivals in Germany and the low countries, Live & Uncleansed serves as a reminder that Prong is, and always has been, a devastating live band. Their musical output has been ahead of the curve much of the time, often to their disadvantage, with other artist taking influence from them and being lauded as scene-leaders.
Such is life, I suppose, but if you’ve not listened to Prong in a while or, heaven forbid, at all, Live & Uncleansed is a fine way to introduce or reintroduce yourself to one of the most inventive bands of the genre.
The post Album Review: Prong – Live and Uncleansed appeared first on The Razor's Edge.
Go on…
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Picture it. Asheville, North Carolina, 2024. A devastating hurricane had just ripped through my region, wiping out entire sections of our richest cultural centers and critical economic staples, not to mention forever impacting the lives and homes of hundreds of thousands of residents (myself included). But, as the absorbent and resilient sponge I know myself to be—and with the help of hordes of kind and loving friends and family—I persisted. Not even a full month after disaster struck, I resumed my writership by covering Greek heavy metal quintet Triumpher’s sophomore epic Spirit Invictus. An eternity spans between then and now, but like myself, Triumpher persists, Piercing the Heart of the World in 2026.
Those who heed Triumpher’s call as I do will be happy to know that the MegatonManowarsword righteousness these Greeks wield like Olympians remains as stalwart as ever. In fact, Piercing the Heart of the World marks the high-water mark of the Triumpher troupe’s songwriting skill and performative prowess. Mars Triumph puts down a vocal showcase of a singular passion, his wild and animalistic delivery reminiscent of Riot City’s early work. That invigorating spirit finds loyal and unflinching support from stellar guitar leads, galloping riffs, and scorching tremolo waves courtesy of guitarists Christopher Tsakiropoulos and Mario Ñ Peters. Meanwhile, Stelios Zoumis rumbles like a thunderous storm, throwing hefty bass bolts through every measure to anchor every one of Piercing’s 45 minutes in righteous metal. Driving the march toward inevitable WICTORY, Agis Tzoukopoulos tumbles, pounds, and stomps his way through every technique known to metalkind in the pursuit of maximum awesomeness, and finds it with alarming regularity here.
Piercing the Heart of the World proves that Triumpher achieved the next stage of evolution in their still-young career. With the massive one-two punch of “Black Blood” and “Destroyer,” Piercing launches with a ferocity that would intimidate the finest specimen of any apex predator family. The former song recalls the vampiric darkness that inked Storming the Walls, which is a welcome introduction, but fails in the most exhilarating way to prepare me for the sword-raising spirit of the latter. That, in turn, fails to prepare me for the epic beauty that is “The Mountain Throne.” The first of two Song o’ the Year contenders, this sub-seven-minute odyssey traverses a calming plucking melody to dive right into blackened speed and a thrashy gallop, all while Mars croons and wails atop a storm of double bass runs and blasts. Yet, the whole is smoother than chrome and sharper than scalpels, resulting in an utterly astounding listening experience. However, even it feels understated when faced with the late-album highlight “Erinyes.” Punky and thrashy in a way I never thought traditional heavy metal could be, but still possessed of that chest-thumping, fist-pumping flame that lights hearts and souls ablaze, “Erinyes” is an unqualified success of excess, exuberance, and excitement.
In the past, Triumpher’s greatest weakness was always that the highlights far outstripped the supporting cast. Not so with Piercing. Even the slow and metered “Ithaca (Return of the Eternal King),” ballad interlude “Vault of the Immortals,” and two-act closer “Naus Apidalia” find ways to make memories and stand with distinction in Triumpher’s catalog. In all cases, those memories are founded in storytelling, either by establishing new characters (as is the case with “Ithaca”), shifting the tone (“Vault”), or by resolving arcs and tying up loose ends (“Naus Apidalia”). This strategy, in turn, makes more traditional heavy metal crowd pleasers like “The Flaming Sword”—which boasts a sleeper chorus that will get stuck in your head—feel more impactful than they might’ve otherwise.
With this in mind, I found very little to complain about. If it weren’t for his sheer charisma, I would say that Mars’ vocal performance teases the “Too Much” button far more often than I prefer. Were it not for the presence of endless barnstormer solos and affecting melodies, I would bemoan the protracted runtime of the closer. The meaty bass presence foils my bubbling rant against the more aggressive compression and increased loudness of this master. The caveats persist, leaving behind a wake of hobbled criticisms that would conspire to chip away at Triumpher’s final score. The damage they perpetrated amounts to mere flesh wounds in the end. Put simply, Piercing the Heart of the World is Triumpher’s greatest triumph yet, and you’d do well to hear it!
Rating: Great!
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: No Remorse Records
Websites: triumpher.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/Triumpher.official
Releases Worldwide: March 6th, 2026
I was unaware of Greek mega-trve metal warriors Triumpher until Kenstrosity tackled their Storming the Walls debut back in 2023. I was immediately intrigued by the Manowar-meets-Megaton Sword-meets-Primordial sound they brought to the battlefield, and though there were some trials, tribulations, and rough spots to their presentation, the core of something bigger was there. Things improved on 2024s Spirit Invictus, as the Triumpher sound became more potent and consistently enthralling, and they seemed poised to usurp the throne of trve metal through sheer might and mayhem. Fast-forward to 2026, and their third crusade is set to kick off with Piercing the Heart of the World. I came into this hoping and expecting to be shocked and awed by sword, shield, and steroidal masculinity. Could Triumpher be the Manowar for this new age? That’s a mighty big loincloth to fill, but hope hung thickly in the air.
My anticipation of excessive glory overload was slaked by ginormous opener “Black Blood,” and woe to those who don’t bend the knee. It’s a volatile mash-up of Manowar, Primordial, and Doomsword, with a structure that starts out larger-than-life and tries to stack vainglorious and titanic moments upon one another like a grand memorial to the Elder Gods. Vocalist Mars Triumph channels Manowar’s legendary Eric Adams while also referencing Primordial’s A.A. Nemtheanga. This makes the song a total barn burner and exactly what I was hoping for. They follow this up with the uber-beefy, badass “Destroyer,” which reeks of Manowar’s The Triumph of Steel era. Grandiose choral segments and black metal influences elbow their way in, but this is a trve metal chariot ride through the Nine Worlds. Keeping the sword between the ribs, “The Mountain Throne” finds Triumpher pushing every lever to MAX GLORY as the false and weak flee for the safety of their fortifications. This one brings a lot of the same energy as the recent Fer De Lance, and there are touches of Lost Horizon, too. Mars stretches his vocals to the very edge of madness, and the chorus is as mighty as a barrel full of Wotans. Those who make it through this will be gifted a lifetime supply of wisdom, power, and back hair.
What could stop such a mighty and righteous host after such a rousing start? A soft and flabby middle, that’s what. “Ithaca (Return of the Eternal King)” is a slow-burning epical ballad that keeps building toward a massive release of rage and wiolence, but the release never arrives, and you’re kept on the edge of something for nearly 7 minutes with no somethings in sight. This results in the condition known as Blue Baldur. “Ithaca” is immediately followed by the 2-minute interlude “Vaults of Immortals,” which is equally restrained and subdued, making for 9 minutes stuck in emo-fied low-gear. This blunts the album’s momentum, taking you out of battle rage and into resource management. Steel cares not for resource herding when they are enemies left to be smottened! While things pick up with “The Flaming Sword,” and especially the trve-meets-semi-black-thrash of “Erinyes,” it feels like the album never fully regains its war footing, and 9-minute plus closer “Naus Apidalia” is merely good, not great, and suffers from some very Virgin Steele-esque compositional sinkholes and ego bloat. At a reasonable 44:44, Piercing the Heart of the World feels much longer than that, and though the first 16 or so minutes are massive, the rest of the album can’t sustain the prolonged siege.
I’m impressed with Mars Triumph’s performance. He’s gotten more proficient from album to album, and he has a crazy broad range. Anyone who can approximate Eric Adams is talented, and his black and death vocals are good as well. That said, he can and does overdo things at times, pushing his tonsils beyond human control. I can’t even suggest he dial things back, since that is not what Triumpher is all about. You just take the good with the weird and ride on. The guitar work from Christopher Tsakiropoulos and Mario Ñ Peters brings the thunder to the tundra, borrowing from a raft of trve and heavy influences while injecting enough blackened edges to make things extra deadly and dangerous. As the riffs roar and soar, Agis Tzoukopoulos delivers Scott Columbus-approved war drumming that embiggens the sword and spirit. This is a talented horde, and it’s the songwriting missteps that ultimately derail their relentless advance.
Triumpher have all the tools to forge a world-beating heavy metal monsterpiece, but Piercing the Heart of the World fails to penetrate my armor and score a critical hit. I heartily enjoy the opening trilogy, and there’s solid stuff later on, but this isn’t an album that captivates me from start to finish, despite my fervent wishes that it did. Piercing loses some of the ground won by Spirit Invictus, but I haven’t lost heart. The warrior spirit will endure and rise again if Crom wills it. Onward to great deeds!
Rating: 3.0/5.0
The post Triumpher – Piercing the Heart of the World Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.
(written by Islander) Almost exactly five years ago we published an extensive interview by our Comrade Aleks of Québec musician Yves Allaire, aka evillair. The focus was on his band Nordicwinter, although the interview ranged beyond that as well. As the interview exposed, Allaire has been making metal music in a variety of different traditions […]
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